Editing Sarvastivada (section)

==Influence==
The Sarvāstivādins of [[Kasmira Kingdom|Kāśmīra]] held the ''{{IAST|Mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra}}'' as authoritative, and thus were given the moniker of being Vaibhāṣikas. The ''{{IAST|Mahāvibhāṣā}}'' is thought to have been authored around 150 CE, around the time of [[Kanishka|Kaniṣka]] (127–151) of the [[Kushan Empire]].<ref>Potter, Karl. ''Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D.'' 1998. p. 112</ref> This massive treatise of Abhidharma (200 fascicles in Chinese) contains a great deal of material with what appear to be strong affinities to [[Mahāyāna]] doctrines.<ref>Potter, Karl. ''Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D.'' 1998. p. 117</ref> The ''{{IAST|Mahāvibhāṣā}}'' is also said to illustrate the accommodations reached between the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna traditions, as well as the means by which Mahāyāna doctrines would become accepted.<ref>Potter, Karl. ''Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D.'' 1998. p. 111</ref> The ''{{IAST|Mahāvibhāṣā}}'' also defines the [[Mahayana sutras|Mahāyāna sūtras]] and the role in their Buddhist canon. Here they are described as ''Vaipulya'' doctrines, with "Vaipulya" being a commonly used synonym for Mahāyāna. The ''{{IAST|Mahāvibhāṣā}}'' reads:

{{blockquote|What is the Vaipulya? It is said to be all the sūtras corresponding to elaborations on the meanings of the exceedingly profound dharmas.<ref name="Walser, Joseph 2005. p. 156">Walser, Joseph. ''Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture.'' 2005. p. 156</ref>}}

According to a number of scholars, Mahāyāna Buddhism flourished during the time of the Kuṣāṇa Empire, and this is illustrated in the form of Mahāyāna influence on the ''Mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra''.<ref>Willemen, Charles. Dessein, Bart. Cox, Collett. ''Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism''. 1997. p. 123</ref> The ''Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa'' also records that Kaniṣka presided over the establishment of [[Prajnaparamita|Prajñāpāramitā]] doctrines in the northwest of India.<ref>Ray, Reginald. ''Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations.'' 1999. p. 410</ref> [[Étienne Lamotte]] has also pointed out that a Sarvāstivāda master is known to have stated that the Mahāyāna Prajñā sūtras were to be found amongst their Vaipulya sūtras.<ref name="Walser, Joseph 2005. p. 156"/> According to Paul Williams, the similarly massive ''[[Da zhidu lun]]'' also has a clear association with the Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins.<ref>Williams, Paul, and Tribe, Anthony. ''Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition.'' 2000. p. 100</ref>

The Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika subschools are both classified in the [[Tibetan Buddhism#Philosophy|Tibetan tenets system]] as the two tenets of the [[Hinayana]], ignoring other early Indian Buddhist schools, which were not known to the Tibetans.

Sarvāstivādin meditation teachers also worked on the [[dhyāna sutras]] ({{zh|c=禪經}}), a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which were translated into Chinese and became influential in the development of Chinese Buddhist meditation methods.